


Tea Stained File

by melwil



Category: Spooks | MI-5
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-11
Updated: 2011-04-11
Packaged: 2017-10-17 22:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/182036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melwil/pseuds/melwil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tom brings Zoe a cup of tea. Set pre series 1</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tea Stained File

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 2007

Zoe squints as she opens her eyes and he realises that they should have closed the curtains. The sunlight is bright and sharp across her body, and he feels his legs wobble slightly beneath him as he watches her. He carries the mug carefully, quietly, and places it on the night stand next to her.

“You brought tea?” Her face is buried in the pillow and her voice is muffled.

“Of course.” It’s the sort of thing Tom does. Not that she’d know that. She doesn’t know him at all, really. They don’t know anything about each other.

Except . . . well he’s read her file. Cover to cover. He knows about her strengths and weaknesses and quirks. He knows about the affair during training and the flirtations during the recruiting process.

He thought it would be easy.

But Zoe wasn’t her file. She wasn’t the words on the page or the reputation in the corridors. She was more reserved than he’s expected, quieter and more reflective. She wasn’t there as a standard honey trap. She was aiming for a place much higher than that.

He found he liked her all the more for it.

They went for drinks together, when she was avoiding her sleazy flatmate and he was vulnerable to her enthusiastic invitations. They talked about spy movies and spy books and spy history, and he laughed when she debated the merits of the different Bonds.

Not that either of them really liked James Bond.

They liked each other though. And Tom liked the way her foot brushed against his leg when they’d both had too much to drink. And the way she wrapped her hand around his when they walked away from the table. And the way she wrapped her hands around the back of his neck when they kissed.

But it would never move beyond this. There was nothing there to take it beyond this morning, beyond this sun filled room. He couldn’t explain why, couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something there, holding them apart from each other.

So he sits there and watches as she pulls the sheet up around her shoulders, as she sips her tea. And he smiles as she kisses him on the cheeks, as she walks out the door.

He thought it would be easier than this.


End file.
